15 Greatest Episodes Of The Walking Dead
3. Too Far Gone (Season 4, Episode 8)
Too Far Gone takes every brilliant aspect of The Walking Dead and mixes it together to create a perfect hour of television.
The brilliance of the episode is how it moves from one major obstacle to the next without caring about how much it's hurting its characters. Just as the Survivors are starting to fight off the debilitating flu that has plagued the first few episodes of the season, The Governor (now more unhinged and obsessed than ever) comes barrelling in with Hershel and Michonne as prisoners and whole new army behind him.
In trying to reason him, Rick only infuriates The Governor, causing him to kill Hershel with Michonne's sword and kicking off a major firefight.
From there, there are some seriously amazing moments: There's Tyreese (Chad Coleman) trying to save the kids; Rick going toe-to-toe with The Governor; and Daryl taking on a tank.
In the end, though, it doesn't matter. The Governor, already gravely wounded by Michonne, is put down by Lilly Chambler (Audrey Marie Anderson), and the survivors of the attack are split up and scattered.
Too Far Gone is a great episode, signalling the end of the prison arc and setting into motion the group's eventual arrival at Terminus and their integration with Alexandria. But at the time, it's a hopeless spectacle, and the kind of situation that makes you wonder how they (mostly) survived such evil.